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Tuesday, July 10, 2018

WOOT! A DAPHNE FINALIST—AGAIN!

Woot! Woot! Please join me in a cyber toast! I’m celebrating
because I recently received the awesome news that Risky Redemption (Rogue Security) is a finalist in a prestigious writing
contest. Let me give you a little background so you can understand why I’m
over-the-moon excited about this honor. The contest’s official name is the
Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, but that’s a
mouthful, so most people just call it the Daphne. It’s sponsored by the Romance
Writers of America’s Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter or Kiss of Death as it’s
fondly known. For me, the Daphne contest and the Kiss of Death chapter represent
the best in the genre I love most, and that’s why I’m so humbled by this
recognition.

This fabulous news is even sweeter because 2018 is the
second year in a row that I’ve been a Daphne finalist. What I find truly
remarkable is how different my two books are. This year’s finalist, Risky Redemption (Rogue Security), is a
dark, edgy, nontraditional romantic thriller told with two timelines and a CIA
assassin hero. The 2017 finalist, Wanted
(FBI Heat), is a more traditional second-chance romance involving a secret
baby and the sabotage of a nuclear power plant. I believe the romantic suspense
genre’s ability to encompass such a wide variety of books is what attracts
readers who like stories that make them think. Now I’d love to share a little
about both of my Daphne books.

RISKY REDEMPTION (Rogue Security)

Four
years ago, a brutal attack stole Angela Reardon’s trust in men. Now the
fiercely independent interior decorator has built a successful business and a
new life without love or sex. Haunted by her inability to identify her
assailant, Angela wants only to be left alone—until a shadowy stranger
reignites dormant desires. But their time together may be brief…because someone
wants her dead.

CIA assassin Jake
Stone’s targets deserved to die. Until now. Until he falls in love with the
innocent woman he’s been hired to kill. Can he save Angela and redeem himself
by uncovering who wants her dead? When the trail leads him into the carnal
underbelly of L.A., the truth is more shocking than even he could ever imagine.

Excerpt:

“Good try, Jake, but
you’re not sneaking away from the topic. Why did you break up with Bonnie and
all the others?” Angela asked.

“All the others?
What is this, an inquisition?”

She leaned over
him, her face inches from his. “Answer me, Mr. Stone.”

Jake pushed her
aside, swung his feet to the floor, and sat up with his back to her. “This
sucks. But okay. Here’s the ammunition you want. Yeah, I dated Tanya, Bonnie,
and all the others. I screwed them. A lot. But if they’re honest,
they’ll tell you they had a really good time. We had fun; we had sex. It never
got any more serious than that.”

“Why?”

“Why did I screw
them?” He twisted around and shot her a lecherous smirk. “I like to f**k,
that’s why.”

“Stop it, Jake. I’m
not going to let you hide behind your vulgar vocabulary. I know you use it to
put me off balance. It’s not going to work this time.”

“Well, aren’t you
clever, Miss Shrink.”

She inhaled slowly,
held the breath a moment, and then blew it out through pursed lips. “I’m asking
why you never have serious relationships with women.”

Jake tunneled his
fingers through his hair and scratched his scalp, obviously stalling. “It’s
simple, Angela. They were superficial relationships that didn’t have anything
meaningful to grow on. Why would a woman want a long-term, serious relationship
with me anyway? Even you called
me a playboy.”

“Maybe you always
escaped before they had a chance to grow.”

“Sure. Whatever you
say, Miss Shrink.”

“Okay, this is what
I say. I think you cut and run because you’re afraid one of these ‘superficial
relationships’ might get serious. Deep down inside, you want it, but you’re
afraid of it, too. So you hide. You’ve hidden the real Jake from Tanya, Bonnie, et al. And now, you’re hiding from
me.”

Steel shutters closed
behind his eyes. Cold, hard, emotionless gray stared back at her. “Believe me,
you wouldn’t like the ‘real Jake.’ I don’t even like him.”

Kat MacKenzie knows something is terribly wrong at the
Diablo Beach Nuclear Power Plant, but she can’t figure out if it’s computer
error, equipment malfunction, or human sabotage. Unfortunately, the only person
she can trust with the problem is the man she left at the altar two years ago.
If Dillon doesn’t already hate her, he surely will once he discovers why she
abandoned him.

The last person he expects to call him is the woman
who broke his heart. But FBI Special Agent Dillon O’Malley can’t ignore Kat’s
plea for help—not when national security may be at stake. As enemies
become clear and catastrophe threatens, can Kat and Dillon put the past behind
them to save the day and secure their future?

Excerpt:

Dillon’s iPhone rang again from where it
lay on the end table. Irritation bubbled to the surface at the sight of the
same unfamiliar number. He shook his head. The damn telemarketer should get a
raise for perseverance alone. But enough was enough. He grabbed the phone.

“Whatever you’re selling, I’m not
buying. Quit calling me.”

As he pulled the phone away from his
ear, ready to slam it on the table, he heard a woman’s faint voice. “Dillon?”

Who knew two syllables could pack such a
punch? But they did and knocked the wind right out of him.

“Dillon?” came the barely audible voice
again. “Are you there?”

Although the words were a whisper, he
identified the caller instantly. Slowly, he placed the phone back against his
ear and said the only word his paralyzed brain could produce. “Yeah.”

She didn’t answer for several seconds,
and before she did, he heard her gulp. Twice.

“It’s me. Kat. Katriona MacKenzie.”

What
the hell? How many Kats did she think he knew? There had been and always
would be only one Kat in his life.

When he didn’t respond, she spoke
louder. “Dillon? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” he managed again around a
boulder in his throat. Lame, lame, lame.
After two years and what she’d done to him, he should have more to say to her.
A lot more.

“Am I…interrupting…anything?” she asked
hesitantly.

God, he wished he could say something
like Yeah, I’m in the middle of screwing
my wife’s brains out or I’m on the
other line with the President or I’m
busy saving the world. But he was just watching football. Alone. So what
could he say? “No,” he muttered, the tightness in his chest threatening to
choke off his single-syllable words entirely.

“Uh…how are you?”

Thank God, her words sounded strangled
also.

“Um, I’m great. Awesome, in fact. Never
been better.” He cringed and closed his eyes. Shit, that was over the top.

“Good. I…I’m really glad.”

“You?” Damn, back to single syllables. And he still couldn’t breathe
right.

“I’m…okay.”

Then she stalled. He sensed Kat was
losing her courage, but he’d be damned if he would make it easier for her.

She sighed heavily. “This was a mistake.
Sorry to bother you, Dillon. Bye-o.”

And just like that, she was gone. But
not without a last dagger to his heart by using their special good-bye.

Thanks, Connie! When he says he doesn't even like the "real Jake," it's a big point in his character arc of going from believing he's unlovable because of his past to realizing that Angela and others do love him. Thanks for stopping by.

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A recipe that includes a dash of desperation, a smidgen of danger, a dollop of adventure and a healthy portion of passion. Sprinkle a happy ending on top and you have the perfect meal. - JUST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE